1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable apparatus such as a book-type portable computer, and more particularly to a structure having a housing containing a functional component such as a speaker.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of conventional portable computers dealing mainly with character information and graphic information, there is a tendency that such portable computers should be applied to multimedia wherein moving pictures, sounds, etc. are integrated. The amount of data processed in multimedia is much greater than that of data processed when character information alone is used. It is thus necessary to record data by using a large-capacity optical disk. To meet the demand, portable computers have been marketed, which comprise CD-ROM drives for reading out data from optical disks.
This type of portable computer includes a box-shaped housing body and a display unit supported by the housing body. The CD-ROM driver is contained within the housing body. The portable computer including the CD-ROM drive is provided with various functional parts, e.g. a loudspeaker outputting a sound and a volume switch for controlling the volume of sound. These functional parts are contained within the housing body.
In the conventional portable computer, the housing body comprises a lower housing and an upper housing coupled to the lower housing. The lower housing supports the CD-ROM drive and functional parts. Thus, after the CD-ROM drive and functional parts are built in the lower housing, the upper housing is removably coupled to the lower housing. The CD-ROM drive and functional parts are covered by the upper housing.
In the field of computers having CD-ROM drives, there is a demand that the built-in loudspeaker be replaced with one having higher quality. Besides, the contact of the volume switch for controlling the sound volume may be deteriorated with the passing of use time of the computer. Thus, the frequency of replacement of functional parts such as the loudspeaker and volume switch is relatively higher than that of the CD-ROM drive or other circuit elements contained within the housing body.
In the conventional computer, however, the functional parts such as a loudspeaker and a volume switch are contained within the housing body along with the CD-ROM drive and other circuit elements. When such functional parts need to be replaced or maintained, it is necessary to disassembling the entire housing body by removing the upper housing from the lower housing. Consequently, a great deal of time and labor is needed for replacement and maintenance of the functional parts.